


(Septic Stories) Happy Holidays

by EsculentEvil



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Costumes, Crossdressing, Daemon Facts, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gift Giving, Headcanon, Holidays, Other, Slow Romance, livestream, references to pet play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21924022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsculentEvil/pseuds/EsculentEvil
Summary: Fair warning: while this was meant to be purely family fluff, AntiHero DID bleed in; along with some pet/puppy play headcanons I have for them; so: DO NOT READ if you don’t like those things.Chase’s family has a long-standing tradition: Costumes on Christmas.It was started by his mother after she realized Chase hated formal wear.The rules are simple: keep it safe for kids, holiday themed, and repeats are fine.Chase brought this little family tradition with him when he became a Septic Ego.
Relationships: Budding Jackieboy-Man/Antisepticeye, Septic Family - Relationship
Kudos: 18





	(Septic Stories) Happy Holidays

_Chase’s family has a long-standing tradition: Costumes on Christmas._

_It was started by his mother after she realized Chase hated formal wear._

_The rules are simple: keep it safe for kids, holiday themed, and repeats are fine._

_Chase brought this little family tradition with him when he became a Septic Ego_ : he always dresses as Santa Clause (even if his kids aren’t there to see him in it), Seán always dresses as one of Santa’s elves, Henrik settled on Jack Frost, Marvin picked Elsa after watching _Frozen_ , Jackie generally goes as a reindeer, and Anti always goes as the Grinch while joking that Jackie’s really his dog, Max (he even bought him a collar for Christmas with a heroic cape attached to it; Jackie secretly kept it because he thought it was really cute—but don’t tell Anti!); then comes Jameson, an Ego made for costumes (because he’s Halloween)—finding his Holiday costume takes a long time; but, after a classic, they do find it.

* * *

The classic they watched was _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_.

Jameson, of course, had asked to watch all of the movies related to his fellow Ego’s costume choices; and so, they were all binge watched in early December.

The youngest Septic was completely taken by a very sweet Dr. Seuss character—Cindy Lou Who—and asked if that could be his costume every year.

Not even Anti, the Grinch, could say _no_ to that.

* * *

It took them some time to compile the outfit.

Finding him a wig was easy enough; all they really had to do was order it online. The little red hooded cape with white fur trimming was also a quick internet grab. Her red leggings and little booties were just a few try-ons at the local thrift store.

The final touches, however, were difficult: they had to go to specialty stores to get his ivory colored petticoat and a red velvet pleated dress of the same length.

It was worth it, though, when all the items fit and came together perfectly.

* * *

Jameson was a mix of nervous and proud the first time he wore the outfit live.

It was the first time he wasn’t monochrome or in his signature dapper wear.

Honestly, it was a little strange and he feared no one would like it.

But people did; and he was happy.

* * *

“Welcome, one and all, to _A Very Costume Christmas_!” Seán opens loudly.

He and Jackie grin as they ring some jiggle bells obnoxiously in the frame. Marvin laughs and throws white and silver confetti to simulate magical snowfall. A bit of it lands on Henrik and Chase who’re busy setting up some donation prizes on the floor. The doctor doesn’t really notice but the father snorts and blows some of the paper away before waving at the camera. Anti just floats above the couch and flips through chat, glitch greeting everyone.

Jameson joins them after making sure the film set up is secure.

He signs a greeting to everyone viewing before flicking one of Jackie’s antlers. The hero yelps and laughs, chasing him while jingling his bells in mock revenge. Chase laughs as well, shaking his head and getting up to grab the bucket of styrofoam balls they’d bought earlier for the fake snowball fight they’ve planned.

Anti suddenly speaks up while looking meaningfully at those behind the camera, “Yer s’pos’d ta be guessin’ in yer donati’ns what we’re all dressin’ as.”

Seán nods and smiles at the viewers, “T’at’s right! In order ta win one o’ t’ese...” He pulls out one of the prizes from the set-up Henrik and Chase had on the floor, showing off the latest VR headset, “Beauties here, tell us hwat we’re wearin’! But ya bett’r be careful! It ain’t as easy as yer t’inking!”

Jackie chimes in while carrying a giggling Jameson back into frame, “T’at’s right! Ya gotta guess t’e specifics, too!”

He sets the silent Ego down gently and smiles as he smooths out his skirt. Jameson then signs to the camera, [Make sure you tell us the book, movie, etc that our costume is from; we put a lot of effort into being exact, so look closely!]

Anti rolls his eyes, “Eff’rt? Exact? Jackie jus’ slapped on a pair o’ antlers!”

The hero flails as everyone laughs, “They’re very close antlers!”

* * *

Marvin’s costume was the first to be guessed correctly.

Everyone instantly knew that he was dressed as Elsa and threw dozens of compliments at him about how pretty his hair was and how well he pulled it off. Marvin, of course, happily basked in the messages until his flirting became a bit too much and Seán decided to cut him off.

Next to be pegged was Henrik.

The specifics of this one took the community a few tries to get. Someone even made the daring declaration that he was some kind of snowy Kermit the Frog (Anti almost laughed himself silly, here); but, eventually, a veteran yelled out: _Henrik’s dressed as The Rankin, Bass, and Muller Jack Frost_!

After a quick recollection of Claymation, that same person correctly called Seán _Hermey, an elf of the same universe_ before requesting the headset be donated.

After realizing that there were some themes or common references happening, the chat began to get smart. They tried to put Chase’s Santa in the same ‘verse but failed, eventually creating an ongoing debate in the background.

The rest of chat tackled Anti, instead.

He was still a challenge because, despite the fact that he’s always the Grinch, he usually switches up which Grinch he actually is. This led to a half hour debate in chat, where people complained about how visually similar the Grinches are, before Seán and Anti allowed for some very close zooms to be taken. Then, someone noticed he’d glitched his sclera yellow and eyes red for the stream.

That person said Anti was most likely the 1966′s cartoon Grinch and won.

The chat then turned to Jackie (as Chase was still being debated on the side). Everyone’s first thought was that he was some version of Rudolph. Fair thought; but a quick zoom in pointed out that his nose wasn’t actually red, just flushed. This led to various people in the community yelling the other reindeer names, hoping to get some kind of clue or hint on which direction to go.

Even Anti seemed confused (he’d thought it was Rudolph, too, honestly).

Eventually, the chat seemed to go back to the idea of reoccurring sources and started ruminating on the various reindeer shown in _Frozen_ and Claymation. Sven was the first suggestion. Someone even suggested _Clarice_ , the Claymation verse’s apparent love interest to Rudolph (to which Anti laughed himself silly).

After several more attempts, Jackie takes pity on them all: “Okay, here’s a hint: Anti’s right! I ain’t bein’ properly accurate b’cause Ah couldn’t find t’a right t’ing. So: I’m only s’pos’d ta have ONE antler.”

Anti gapes, eyes wide and cheeks black, as understanding dons on them all. Jackie just grins at him and cheers for the first community member to yell _Max_. He makes sure they add that he’s from the same cartoon as Anti’s Grinch before awarding them with the headset and putting it aside with their screen name.

Anti, of course, recovers quickly and grumbles about Jackie being a cheat, saying: “Ah should rip yer damn antler off, ye fecking cheap skate!” to which Jackie replies, “O, Grinch, ya try ta act tough but ye’d never really hurt yer pup!”

The rest of the Egos laugh as Anti leaps off the couch and glitches the styrofoam balls into his hands so he can pelt Jackie as he chases him around the room. Amidst the chaos, Seán reminds everyone that they still have some headsets to give away and some Egos’ costumes to peg, “SO! Who’re Chase and JJ‽”

As Anti tackles Jackie and wrestles him to the ground, someone in chat asks, “Red Riding hood? For JJ, I mean.”

Jameson frowns. The two hooligans on the floor pause in their roughhousing and all the Septics blink rather owlishly at the chat, “... She’s not fer da holidays.”

They all brush the odd thought off quickly enough, not wanting to overly embarrass anyone, and subtly remind the community about _shared themes_.

Anti and Jackie go back to fighting, rolling out of frame to bang into a wall. Marvin laughs at them and shakes his head, joking that Jameson should go and make sure his _parents_ don’t _wreck house_. The chat explodes at this implication while the Grinch yells and wriggles out from under Jackie enough to pelt Marvin. The magician screeches and summons a barrier, still shouting that JJ’s their kid.

The mute comedian is just very confused.

He expresses this to the community via his hands and face before reading Chat. [ _Jameson’s a Grinch Puppy?_ ] [ _JJ’s from the same Grinch movie!_ ] [ _He’s a Who!_ ]

He comments that the last one is correct and signs, [So: which Who am I?]

While half the chat is still theorizing about Grinch!Anti’s and Max!Jackie’s baby, the other half yell answers at Jameson, hoping to get the right answer (and win). Chase sits beside him after cleaning up as much of the styrofoam as he could, smiling and laughing at the chat but not interrupting their engagement with JJ; it’s a rare thing, the community having time to one-on-one with him, specifically, so they all try to step back whenever it does manage to happen—even Anti!

Speaking of: the Glitch Grinch is a bit too busy sporting a shocking shade of basalt black while trapped under a grinning Jackie to crash Jameson’s chat-time; they all know he could easily glitch out of the trap or just yeet Jackie off of him so no one but the community—Anti Army members, mostly—tease him about it; they’d rather just enjoy him relaxing with them enough to goof off—it’s so rare.

Finally, someone in the community calls Jameson _Cindy Lou Who from 2000_. The silent Who beams and signs a cheer, congratulating the person on their win. He then has Chase read aloud the person’s username so he can write it down.

As the comedian sets the little note by the second-to-last headset, Seán stands.

“A’right, e’rybody! We’re down ta the last costume!” He jokingly raises his arms towards the fatherly Ego in question like he’s displaying him, “So, who’s Chase‽”

Again, a flurry of suggestions bombard the Septics as everyone tries to seize the last win; Anti glitches harshly in response—as he’s the Chat’s main moderator—and Jackie quickly stands to help him up and over to rest on the couch.

Jameson steadies his Grinch from one side; Jackie steadies him from the other. Henrik shuffles over and takes a quick look at the Glitch—just in case—but ends up scoldingly swatting Anti after the little evil hisses poutily at him. Chase gets up to give the group more room and to allow Seán to more easily do close-ups.

It isn’t until he removes his red coat, however, to show his special suspenders that anyone realizes he’s actually one of the few standalone characters.

 _Tim Allen’s Santa_ is yelled in chat and, at last, the final headset is won.

* * *

Epilogue 1

The rest of the stream is spent laughing and goofing off, talking to each other and the community, playing games together and roughhousing, as well as interacting with each other and supports as if they’re actually their characters.

By the time it’s over, they’re all exhausted and immensely proud: they raised a lot of money for their chosen charity and made many happy through the stream.

Seán and Chase smile and chat with each other as they wrap up the headsets without bows so they can be shipped to the winners looking like gifts while not making things a hassle for the workers sending the parcels across the world.

Marvin and Jameson are also chatting with the mute entertainer’s magical subtitles on (provided by Marvin, of course) about how well things went and how they can improve the quality or accuracy of their costumes for next year.

Henrik, who’d been fairly quiet for most of the stream, throws on his doctor’s coat and grabs his briefcase before heading to the hospital with a wave; he has rounds with Dr. Iplier and a friendly gift to hand him (and receive) tonight.

Lastly, Jackie and Anti utilize their super speed and glitching capabilities to clean up the living room quickly, glancing coyly at each other every once in a while.

* * *

It takes a while, but, eventually, Anti mutters, “T’ought ye hated being me Max.”

Jackie pauses in the middle of gathering all of Marvin’s confetti snow in a pile. He glances contemplatively at the unsure daemon before smiling slightly, “A bit.”

The Glitch Grinch looks at his Reindog, confused.

The hero just smiles more, “But only at first.”

* * *

Epilogue 2

Later, Anti and Jameson are alone on the couch, watching the 1966′s Grinch (they’d only watched the 2000 one during the marathon and he was curious).

[You did a really good job imitating his image, chap!] the comedian compliments, a large smile peeking from behind his thick mustache. Anti only chuckles at him.

They enjoy the movie together as Henrik works with Dr. Iplier in the hospital, Chase video chats with his kids in his bedroom, Seán catches some Zs in his, Marvin meets up with his fellow magic users deep in the forest back in Ireland, and Jackie does his yearly run around the city helping people and gifting kids.

When it’s over and Jameson looks about ready for bed, Anti turns off the telly, “Did’ja enjoy yerself? Bein’ me Cindy Lou?”

Half asleep as he is, the monochrome Merryman can’t help be grin cheekily, [Yes; but, not nearly as much as Jackie enjoyed being your _reindeer puppy_!]

* * *

Epilogue 3

The following year, Anti’s face resembles a lump of coal for most of the stream.

This isn’t because that’s his costume, however.

It’s simply because his blood is black.

And Jackie’s wearing his collar.

**Author's Note:**

> That's all folks! Thank you so much for reading; hope you enjoyed it. ♦ And Happy Holidays!


End file.
